Ana Brandt on The Art of Handcoloring
© Wendy Folse
ana@handcolor.com
Ana Brandt has been perfecting her handcoloring techniques for the past 6 years and had this to say about the future of the medium as well as great advice to help beginners get started with their own projects.
I was taking some advanced photography courses and my Professor introduced me to the art. I immediately fell in love with the technique..I was just amazed that you could bring to life a black and white photograph - paint it with oils, pencils or whatever. It was love at first sight. Handcoloring is not a new art form. It has been around almost as long as photography itself and it dates back to 1839.
The handcoloring process is not difficult to learn. Like with anything, it takes time and practice. I believe it is an art that evolves as the person grows and learns new techniques and processes. We first suggest two things - buying a good book and reading through handcolor.com - the entire site. In our studio area, we have a beginners guide to handcoloring. There are also step-by-step instructions for coloring, toning, mounting, etc., as well as information on what film to use, what paper to use and which mediums produce what results. In our bookstore we refer only the best books - ones that we have used ourselves, and we really recommend picking at least one. Once you have absorbed the information, you then need to decide what medium you want to start with - such as oils, dyes, etc. Oils - Marshall's or Veronica Cass are really the most forgiving. We suggest people start using those on RC (which is cheaper to print than fiber) paper first. The only real way to start is to get a black and white photograph, some oils, cotton and color away!
Types of photos that work best Just about everything. I am a professional portrait photographer, so people always inspire me. I love when I can work with a subject and be creative and am not limited to certain poses. I will decide during the shoot which poses I want to handcolor and then use certain props or adjust the lighting accordingly - knowing that the outcome will be a handcolored image. I also love to work with still life. A plastic rose for example will inspire me to shoot with a macro lens and get close enough to see the detail which will alter be rendered with oils. Of course I love landscapes too! Photography and the ability to capture an image is more than enough inspiration for me.
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